


Born Lucky, Lucky to be Born

by RandomTexanReader



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Azula (Avatar) Redemption, Azula fought the Agni Kai, Banished Princess Azula AU, Gen, What if Zuko was the favorite
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-15
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-05 03:27:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 7,470
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25217761
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RandomTexanReader/pseuds/RandomTexanReader
Summary: "The narcissistic parent often pits siblings against each other, setting up a destructive pattern that can stick for decades. Each child has a role to play, and it only ever benefits the narcissistic parent. There is the ‘golden child’ who dutifully obeys – at least outwardly – every command from the narcissistic parent, and then basks in the praise. There is the ‘scapegoat’ child, who rebels, and bears the wrath." - Rivals for Affection: How Siblings Survive Narcissistic Parents, Raidah Shah IdilWhat if Azula had been scarred and banished at eleven, with the only way to regain her honor and return home being to find and capture the Avatar?
Comments: 11
Kudos: 82





	1. Chapter 1

Standing over his child, the Fire Lord swung his hand, wreathed in fire, for a backhand blow. In the seats, Iroh looked away. Next to him, the Crown Prince Zuko stared aghast. In the arena, eleven-year-old Azula screamed in pain.

* * *

Three years later, the banished princess was going through sets on the deck of her warship, her movements confident, sharp, and fast, clinically precise. She had always been a prodigy, and under her uncle's guidance had blossomed into one of the finest firebenders the nation was likely to see. When she was bending, the fury and frustration that had become her constant companions melted away from her face, and, but for the disfiguring scar, she could have been taken for the happy princess she had been as a little girl. She was almost finished when something happened--a clear blue beam of light, bright as the sun, shooting straight up into the late autumn sky.

Whirling on her heel, she ordered the helmsman to set a course for the light.

"You have not finished your final set," her uncle admonished, not looking up from his game of solitaire, "Genius is no substitute for hard work."

"You didn't see that?" Azula asked in disbelief, "A light source that powerful? It has to be the Avatar!"

"Or the celestial lights," Iroh replied.

"I've seen the celestial lights," Azula growled, clenching her fists, "I'm not an idiot. I'm telling you, this was different!"

Sighing, the old man finally looked up. "So it was an optical illusion. A refraction, or perhaps a meteorite. There are any number of things it's more likely to be. The Avatar has been dead for a hundred years, or somebody would have found him by now."

Azula turned her back on him and strode to the prow. "Somebody wasn't me," she said, more to herself than to her uncle.

  
The ship groaned as it altered course and headed towards the source of the light. Azula felt her heart beat faster, and tried to calm it. She knew that General Iroh was right, that it was yet another false alarm, that she was a fool chasing a fool's hope. But something deep inside, something she'd never been able to defeat, told her that this time it might be different, this time it might be real, this time she might be able to go home and this time she might be welcomed with opened arms.

She ordered her men to keep a watch out through the night and stayed on the deck herself, sleeping fitfully and for only an hour or so at a time, always asking if there had been any change when she woke again. As the sun came up she was still by the prow sweeping the horizon two and fro with a spy glass. As the day crept on towards noon, she was the first to see the flare, and quickly found the source--a Fire Nation derelict, likely a decade old. As she looked, movement caught her eye and she focused, then gasped. A figure in yellow and orange, holding somebody in blue, was leaping down the bulk of the ship, moving like a grasshopper with a speed and height that could only mean one thing--airbending. 

Azula felt her heart rate speed up as her mind raced. There was an airbender left in the world. And after one hundred years, it had to be _the_ airbender. The one left unaccounted for. The Avatar.

Forcing her voice into an even, neutral tone, she ordered the helmsman to set course for the water tribe village in the area. There was only one, and if the Avatar was with a water tribe member, that was where he was staying.

"We'll ground in a few hours," the lieutenant told her, and she nodded. 

"I will go down myself with six men. I doubt there's any significant force left in this village." She turned and began heading to her cabin. "Inform the general what our plan is. I'm going to get some rest, and then prepare in my quarters."


	2. Chapter 2

Azula did not let anyone help her with her armor, as much from pride as from a sense of propriety--there were no women on her ship. In the early days of her banishment she had worn a light, woven armor that had been more comfortable, but now she simply wore the same heavy breastplate, pauldrons, and gauntlets that the men did, with the gold trim befitting her rank. She yanked the straps tight and twisted and turned to check her range of motion before putting on her helmet. Front line soldiers often had faceplates to their helmets, to protect the eyes, nose, and mouth in battle. Azula had removed the bottom half of a faceplate for her own helmet. She found that people were more uncomfortable when her eyes remained hidden, although she still wanted them to know who she was. Also, she thought it was fitting for her to wear a half-face into battle.

Looking in the mirror, she carefully applied a little of the lipstick that was her sole concession to femininity, and stood back to examine the effect. Finding it satisfactory, she turned and marched out of her room, not stopping for the two guards who quickly fell into step behind her.

Feeling the thrum of the ship's acceleration beneath her feet, Azula could not help but smile as the warship bore down on the small village. It was a tactic she had studied as a child, and had the opportunity to use before when there had been rumors regarding other Water Tribe settlements--unfounded, as it had turned out those times. She and her men braced themselves for the shock as the ship ran into the ice and continued forward under the impetus of its own weight, the ice shuddering and splitting against the metal. Azula saw the snow towers of the village's poorly constructed wall tremble and collapse, and allowed herself to wonder about the magnificent structures she had read about, if they had been as weak as these, or if, like so many other things, the craft of their constructions had been lost to time and war. 

The ship ground to a halt, and Azula came back to herself, signalling for the prow to be dropped to allow for disembarkment with a curt nod. It fell with a hiss, and Azula marched forward, six guards close behind.

A boy in war paint, likely only a year or two older than Azula herself, knelt in the snow, a club at the ready, in front of the huddled villagers. With a war cry, he charged at Azula, club raised.

In three smooth movements, Azula had disarmed, overthrown, and pinned the boy, one knee on his chest while holding a blue-hot flame in front of his face. Two of her guards rushed forward and seized the young warrior, allowing Azula to stand and address the village, all women and children.

"I am the daughter of the Fire Lord Ozai, Princess Azula. You are the only village in a thirty-mile radius," she said, her voice pleasant and reasonable. "A burst of energy was sighted yesterday that could only have come from the Avatar, and today I personally saw a figure in Air Nomad robes, blatantly air-bending, accompanied by somebody in Water Tribe clothing."

The women and children stared at her silently, their faces expressionless.

Azula smiled, and began to pace along the line. "The Avatar was last seen one hundred years ago, identified as a young Air Nomad boy." She stopped, looking into a woman's face, then continued along the line. "He would have come to you in yellow and orange clothing, and possibly has tattoos along his arms and legs." She stopped again, looking at one of the elders. "He may have threatened you for shelter. In which case, if you turn him over at once, you will be granted the full protection of the Fire Nation."  
There was still silence, and Azula nodded, turning away. Then she whirled, sending a wall of blue flame slicing above the heads of the villagers, who ducked and gasped in fear. "If you turn him over, he may harm you," she said, her voice still calm and pleasant, "But if you do not, I definitely will."

"Enough." An old woman stepped forward, her face stern. "An airbender was here earlier today. We sent him away. We don't know where he went."

Azula stepped towards the old woman, her fists clenched. "Which. Way," she gritted.

The old woman did not so much as blink. "We don't know. Nobody saw him off," she said, "We just wanted him gone as quickly as possible. We didn't care where."

Azula seized the woman's parka and raised her free hand, filling it with flame. Flinching, the old woman shut her eyes tight. The boy fought to get free of the guards that held him, and a girl cried out from the villagers. Azula raised her voice to address the whole village again, although she still looked at the old woman. "You will all regret it if you do not tell me which way he went." 

A girl about Azula's age tried to run forward, but was caught by one of the mothers. "She's telling you the truth!" she cried out, her voice quavering, "We don't know where he went, let her go!"

Azula pulled her hand back in preparation for a heavy fire strike, not one that would kill, but one that would hurt and frighten enough to get her the truth, when something slammed into her legs, sending her flying and knocking off her helmet. The wind was knocked out of her when she landed, and it took her a moment to catch her breath and stand again. When she did, she saw a penguin waddling off and an airbender sitting in the snow, holding a staff. "Hey Katara," he said to the girl, "Hey Sokka," to the boy. 

"Hey Aang," the boy said moodily, still in the guards' grip, "thanks for coming."

Azula motioned for her guards to surround the airbender and they did so, the two who had been holding the boy throwing him hard into a snowbank. The Airbender stepped back warily as Azula took the center of the pincer, taking up her fighting stance. Then he whirled, using the staff to knock up a wall of snow that landed on the soldiers, and Azula barely had time to brace for the impact. With a sharp exhale she melted the snow, glaring at the airbender, who was standing at the ready.

"Looking for me?" he taunted.

He had to be twelve years at the oldest.

"You're just a boy," Azula said, shocked, then angry. "You're the avatar? You're who I've been training to fight all these years?"

The airbender broke his fighting stance, cocking his head to one side quizzically. "Well, you're just a girl." He gasped and jumped back, spinning his staff to dissipate Azula's blast, and Azula dodged a second spray of snow as he sent a gust of wind back at her. He fell back as Azula pressed her advantage, sending a wall of fire towards him. He split it with another gust of air, and it passed over the villagers' heads. Some of them cried out, and the airbender stopped suddenly, breaking his stance again and holding his staff out. "If I go with you," he asked, looking into Azula's eyes, "Will you leave them alone?" 

Azula glanced at the villagers and then back at the airbender. "I will," she said. "You're the only one I want." 

Nodding, the airbender let Azula's guards move in and take his staff. Azula stood to one side, watching them march the airbender onto her ship, and then looked back at the villagers. The boy who had tried to fight earlier was sitting on the ground, the girl who was Azula's age kneeling next to him. The airbender had called them Sokka and Katara, and Azula briefly wondered how they had befriended an airbender before turning her back, dismissing the village and its inhabitants from her mind as she followed the prisoner and her men onto the ship. "Set a course for the Fire Nation," she ordered, and smiled. She was going home.


	3. Chapter 3

Azula was in a foul mood. The Avatar was loose, and every second she had to take for repairs was a second that he slipped further from her grasp. To be so close and yet so far was, quite frankly, maddening. But a princess, even a disgraced one, had to control her temper.

She had already ordered the men to remain quiet about what had happened, and sent word ahead to port so that the ship could be mended and back on the ocean as quickly as possible. She focused on her breath as she marched down the ramp onto the dock and stood for a moment, feeling the solidity of the earth beneath her feet.

Iroh came stumping down and stood by her right hand. Azula wasn't blind on her scarred side, but she had found that it was good strategy to act as though she was.

"Princess Azula. To what do we owe this honor?"

Turning, Azula recognized a face from her days at the palace. "Captain Zhao."

"Commander, now," Zhao smiled. 

"Congratulations on your promotion, Commander," Azula said graciously. "We are stopping for repairs and supplies, and then headed towards the east."

Zhao looked at the ship.

"That is quite a lot of damage." 

"Yes. Yes it is," Azula answered, without losing her poise, "We suffered a collision. Didn't we, General Iroh?"

Iroh blinked at her. "We did?" He then looked at Zhao. "We did! Oh yes, yes, it was quite a crash."

The Commander nodded, his face impassive. "A collision, I see. Must have been something very large."

"An iceberg," Azula said, at the same time Iroh said, "An Earth Kingdom ship."

"Which we crashed into after glancing off of an iceberg," Azula clarified, surreptitiously stepping on her uncle's foot.

Zhao looked at them both. Azula met his gaze without wavering, and after a minute the Commander nodded. "I see," he said, his manner courtly as ever, "I must insist that you regale me with all of the thrilling details. Please, I ask you both to be my guests."

"We haven't--" Azula began, but Iroh interrupted her.

"We would be honored," he said, bowing. "I do hope you have some ginseng tea." 

Azula glared at him, but the old man's eyes flicked towards Zhao's men standing at the ready and she saw his point. "Until my captain returns, then," she conceded, and Zhao smiled at her, indicating the way to his quarters. 

If Azula had even a fragment of a doubt that Zhao's motivations were other than pure hospitality, the guards standing at attention in his tent would have dispelled it immediately. She felt jittery and nervous, but kept it deeply hidden as she and General Iroh engaged in meaningless small talk with Zhao. Azula continued to use his title. It galled her, to acknowledge that the man was rising in favor, but as long as she used his title he had to use hers. And a princess, even a disgraced one, was above a commander.

Finally a soldier came in to whisper to Zhao, and the painful charade was dropped immediately. Zhao turned on Azula and Iroh, his expression flat. "Your men have confirmed that you had the Avatar in your custody but let him escape," he said. He tilted his head. "Tell me again, how was your ship damaged?"

Silently cursing Zhao, Azula let her voice drop into a grating register. "Nobody has fought an airbender in over a hundred years. I was no less prepared than you would have been, and now I know not to underestimate him."

"A twelve-year-old boy." Zhao scoffed. "And he defeated you and all of your men."

"It won't happen again."

"No, because there won't be an again." Zhao clasped his hands behind his back, smiling grimly. "Capture of the Avatar is far too important a task to trust to a fourteen-year-old girl. I will form a search party and head out at once."

Furious, Azula exhaled sharply, letting a small flame escape. "I have been searching for the Avatar for nearly three years, _Commander,_ it is my right-"

"Your right, _Princess_ , is limited. You had your chance and you failed." 

Azula's anger turned cold. 

Zhao continued. "The Avatar poses a real threat now. Just give it up. If your father wanted you home, he would have let you return already--even if you did capture the Avatar, he would still be ashamed of a half-faced daughter."

Crossing her legs, Princess Azula smiled up at Zhao. "Commander," she almost purred, "I am under no illusions as to my father's affections. But the fact remains. Once I have captured the Avatar, I can return in triumph--" she stopped smiling "--and that is not an opportunity I will allow you to take from me."

The commander smirked. "I don't see this as a question of me taking an opportunity away from you, princess Azula," he said, his tone polite, "But for your own safety you and your uncle will be kept here in my quarters until after I have set sail. You understand that this is for the best."

With a mocking little bow, he turned to walk away, and Azula flushed with anger. "Agni Kai," she called after the smug commander. 

Zhao stopped and turned, as if he couldn't believe what he had just heard. 

Azula narrowed her eyes. "I challenge you to an Agni Kai," she said, "Next sunrise." That would give her crew enough time to prepare the ship for departure. "You have dared to detain me and my men, whom you interrogated without my knowledge or permission," she clarified, for the benefit of the witnesses, "and that is an affront. I will allow you to keep us here only if you defeat me in Agni Kai."

The self-satisfied look was gone from Zhao's face, and Azula had the satisfaction of seeing him angry now. She was right, and he couldn't back down now without losing face. Folding her arms and lifting her chin, she smiled up at him, taunting. "Unless, of course, you wish to forfeit to a little girl."

Zhao's jaw clenched. "Very well," he growled, "I accept your challenge. Agni Kai at sunrise. You will stay here until then."

Azula uncrossed her legs and stretched out luxuriously in her seat, still smiling. "Why thank you, commander. I'm glad to see that, even after so long away from court, you haven't forgotten how to treat a lady." 

Zhao stalked out of the tent and Iroh turned to Azula. "Princess," he said gently, "Are you sure? Last time you dueled-"

"I am a better firebender than Zhao," Azula said.

"That is true," Iroh conceded. It was. There were few benders that Azula was not better than. "But he has size and strength on his side, and I do not think he is above cheating."

"I know," Azula said irritably. "I've told you, I'm not an idiot. That's why I set the Agni Kai for sunrise--I can do more with less, so I can take him out before his flames have had time to properly wake up."

Despite himself, Iroh chuckled admiringly, and Azula allowed a flash of a rare, genuine smile to cross her face. Then she stood, stretching her arms and yawning. "I wonder what Zhao plans to provide us for dinner. I think it may not be to my tastes and I will have to send it back, regretfully requesting something else." A princess, even a disgraced one, was entitled to be a little childish and petty towards her enemies.


	4. Chapter 4

The sand was still cool from the night before, the sun slanting in palely from the east. Closing her eyes, Azula breathed in and out slowly, finding her center.

The gong signaled the start and she stood, turned, and took her first shot in one fluid motion. Zhao hadn't been prepared for that, and he skipped back from the flame, giving Azula time to get off two more shots before he retaliated and Azula had to dodge herself.

Zhao was faster than she'd expected, and every second they fought increased his likelihood of winning.

She sucked in her breath as she returned to her stance, recalculating. She parried one, then two, then three shots from Zhao. Then she almost laughed--which would have ruined everything.

He was moving towards her right.

He thought she was blind on that side.

It was his first real mistake, and one she knew how to use. Skipping back, she made it obvious that she was trying to guide Zhao back towards her left side. Zhao smirked, thinking that he had the advantage. Azula let him think that, falling back, slowing her reactions to his attacks from her right side, carefully luring him into her trap.

She pulled back the power of her attacks, letting the heat gather in her belly, watching for her opening — there! She whirled and her blue-hot flames caught Zhao off-balance, throwing him back, and she struck again, and again, and again, before he could find his footing, and then he had fallen and she stood over him, fist at the ready. She bared her teeth at him in a smile, exulting in her victory.

“Finish it,” he hissed, bracing himself for the final blow, but Azula shook her head, dripping syrupy sweetness into her voice. 

“Oh Zhao,” she said, and it felt good to ignore his title, “I’m just a little girl. I don’t like to see people hurt.” Sending a fire strike into the sand by Zhao’s head, she let the smile and her voice drop. “But stand in my way again, and I’m sure I’ll get over it.” By refusing to burn her opponent, she left him subordinate, victim of her mercy, and she knew how much that must gall. She turned her back on the defeated commander and marched away, head high. 

She heard Zhao’s yell of anger and started to turn into the rush of fire but General Iroh had already caught the commander’s foot and thrown him back into the sand. Hating herself for having left an opening, Azula threw her head back and laughed. “The great commander Zhao,” she announced, feeling giddy, “has to wait for a little girl to turn her back to him before he can attack her.”

Zhao snarled and started to get up, but was stopped by something in General Iroh’s eyes. “Do not disgrace yourself further,” the old man warned. “My niece has already shown herself to be the more honorable.” Folding his hands into his sleeves, he bowed formally. “We must take our leave now. My thanks for your hospitality. The ginseng tea was delicious." 

Azula turned away again and walked out of the arena. General Iroh waited for just a moment, then followed her a few steps behind. None of Zhao's guards tried to stop them.

"You didn't need to lie on my account," Azula said quietly as they walked towards the ship.

"I wasn't lying."

Azula looked at Iroh, surprised.

He grinned mischievously. "The Ginseng tea really was delicious."


	5. Chapter 5

It wasn't enough to practice until you got it right. You had to practice until you never got it wrong. Azula went through her stances -- one, two, three -- breathing in and out deeply with each movement -- one, two, three -- watching each burst of blue flame as it rushed into life and dissippated a moment later. 

"This is a purer form of fire-bending," her uncle had told her, the white-hot tongue of flame bright in his hand, "Its passion is not from the heart, but from the mind. It is single-minded and focused, with nothing between it and its goal." He closed his hand and the flame disappeared. "Not every firebender can achieve the white fire. Your firebending must already be a part of yourself before it can even be attempted." Azula had nodded, her hands flat on her knees. 

Finishing her first set, Azula flowed into her second, one, two, three, feeling the pulse of her breath and the fire and the sun and the ship's deck beneath her feet, one, two, three. 

"It is not enough to have your goal in mind," Iroh had said gently, as the flames had remained orange and sometimes even red in their disappointment. Without taking a stance, he stepped into the move Azula had just tried, and the white flame blossomed from his hands as naturally as breathing. "You must have nothing else in mind. If you have any thought besides the immediate goal, the flame will be orange." 

It was a good feeling, to have movements so familiar that the body almost moved without you. Halfway through the fourth set, Azula felt as though she was floating in a gentle current, letting the fire take her where she wanted to go. 

"Good," Iroh had said, when the first blue flame had almost knocked Azula's breath away with its heat, but there was a sadness in his eyes that he hid a little too late. "It's blue," Azula said, frustrated, but Iroh shook his head, folding his hands into his sleeves. "Blue is even hotter than white, although not as pure. I would not ask you to dampen the ferocity of youth. When you have mastered the blue flame, the white will come." 

The final set finished, Azula placed her hands palm down and closed her eyes, exhaling deeply as she released the flame back to the sun. 

She felt, rather than heard, her uncle behind her, and addressed him without turning around. "I trust you bring me good news?"

"I wouldn't call it good," the old general said evasively, "and I'm not quite sure I would call it news, either."

Azula turned on him, narrowing her eyes. He coughed lightly. 

"We have no idea where he is."

Exhaling sharply through her nose, Azula thrust her hand at him. "Give me the map."

"We have plenty of sightings of the Avatar," Iroh told her, placing the scroll in her hand, "but when it comes to trying to track him down..."

Azula glared at the points on the map, trying to find a pattern, something, anything, that would betray the Avatar's plan. She shook her head. "We have to find him."

"I do not think that will be so easy," Iroh said gently. "He is clearly a master of evasive maneuvering." 

Looking at the map, Azula had to agree.


	6. Chapter 6

"-who heard it from a fisherman who heard it from a local that the Avatar's on Kyoshi island," the servant finished. 

Azula resisted the urge to jump to her feet. "Ready the rhinos at once," she said, forcing her voice to remain calm, "He's not going to get away."

"Do you think it is wise to try to capture the Avatar on Kyoshi island?" General Iroh asked carefully, helping himself to a steaming serving of fish. "From what I hear, their warriors are a formidable force. They may intend to protect the Avatar."

"That's why I'm taking the rhinos, Uncle," Azula explained, slowly and deliberately, "I know you've been away from the front for a while, but mounted troops generally indicate that one expects trouble."

The old man shrugged. "If one expects trouble," he said mildly, "Perhaps it is best for retired generals to remain on ships."

Azula rolled her eyes and left the table.

When they finally grounded in the bay, Azula had spent most of the time focusing on not grinding her teeth with frustration. First the rhinos had to be requisitioned, then their food, then they had to be coaxed into the ship's hold and secured for the brief journey to the nearby island, then they had to be bridled and saddled and mounted, and by the time Azula was finally able to ride ashore at the head of her small force, the day was mostly gone. She kept her face impassive behind the half-faceplate of her helmet, however, and she could hear that her voice was as even and controlled as ever as they approached the village and she reminded her men that the Avatar had to be captured alive. 

The village was silent and empty when they arrived, and Azula felt a small thrill of satisfaction. Silence was as good as an admission of guilt. She halted, holding up her hand to the men behind her, and raised her voice.

"People of Kyoshi island," she announced, her voice ringing in the stillness, "I am Princess Azula of the Fire Nation. You are harboring the Avatar. If you hand him over at once, there will be no harm done to your village." She waited, and, as expected, there was no response. She shrugged lightly. "Have it your way," she said, and signaled to her men, who took aim at the roofs of the nearest buildings.

Azula heard the unmistakable 'thud' of a man in full armor hitting the ground, and the Kyoshi warriors had arrived, in full makeup and regalia, metal fans at the ready. 

One of the warriors was running straight towards Azula, who stood and leaped off of her rhino, landing with a rush of fire that the warrior dodged with ease. The girl raised her metal fans and began to turn into a blow, but Azula took a step backwards--the girl stumbled, and Azula smiled internally. That was the problem with techniques that were all about using an opponent's own force against them. They assumed that your opponent wasn't already doing the same thing.

She caught the next blow on her gauntlet, guiding the force down and away from her body, spinning into a high kick as her opponent tried to regain her balance. The kick landed and the Kyoshi warrior staggered, then leapt backwards, raising her fans again. But now Azula had space, and her fire blast knocked the enemy clear into the wall of a nearby house. 

Hearing a yell, Azula turned to see another Kyoshi warrior charging her, but this one was moving differently. She dodged the first blow with ease, and the second, but the third glanced off of her helmet, knocking her back a step. Hissing with irritation, she clenched her fists, fire daggers jumping to life, and went on the offensive. She recognized the yelp as he jumped back, and had time to wonder, as she swung into a ferocious fire kick that would knock him out of the playing, what a water tribe boy was doing dressed as a Kyoshi warrior. 

A powerful blast of air broke her balance, and she turned with a ferocious grin to see the Avatar, crouched in a fighting position. "Finally," she said, leaping into a fire strike, beginning her next attack even as the Avatar swung his staff to vaporize the first. He ducked and dodged maddeningly, but then one of Azula's strikes almost landed and he dropped his staff. Azula ran forward to press her advantage, but then saw the boy was leaping into a spinning kick and realized a split-second too late that he had two of the metal fans in his hands. She tried to brace herself as she heard his shout, but the blast threw her clear across the square, slamming her into a wood column, knocking the wind out of her with a sickening thud.

When she was finally able to suck in the first painful breath the Avatar was already gone.

Pure rage brought new strength to her legs, and she struggled to her feet. "Find him!" she shouted, her voice shrill in her ears, "Don't let him get away!" 

The Kyoshi warriors had disappeared as quickly as they had appeared, and her men struggled to their feet, groaning and rubbing their injuries. Practically smoking with fury, Azula caught one of the unmounted rhinos and swung into the saddle, searching the sky. "There!" she shouted again, as the bison soared overhead, "Back to the ship!"

Without waiting to see if the others were following, she kicked the rhino's leathery sides as hard as she could, urging the beast into a thundering run. She was barely out of the village when a cascade of water came crashing down, knocking her out of her saddle and kicking the wind out of her for the second time that day. Drenched and shaking with frustration, too angry even to dry herself off with fire, she struggled to her feet and watched as the Avatar's bison flew off into the sky. 


	7. Chapter 7

Azula hissed sharply through her teeth at the pile of rocks where her uncle had been half an hour ago.

"A landslide?" one of her men asked hesitantly.

"Uphill?" Azula shot back, and began casting about in the undergrowth. A moment later she had found a tell-tale footprint. "Earthbenders," she stated, and almost stamped her own foot. "I ought to leave him behind, the old fool!" Stalking back to her rhino, Azula swung into the saddle and looked at the surrounding terrain. "There," she said, pointing. "If they're mounted, that's where they'd have hidden their ostrich horses."

"Princess Azula, look!" One of the men came up to her, holding a sandal aloft. "I think it's the general's!" 

"Don't wave that filthy thing at me," Azula said, aghast, "Of course it's his, the Earthbenders are all barefoot." She sat back in her saddle. "And now we know that he's at least conscious." And hopefully clothed, she added silently. She nudged her rhino forward, looking down at the ground, and then up at the terrain ahead. "He wouldn't have made a move unless they were going to try to lose us," she said slowly, and turned to look on each side of the path. She pointed. "That rock never got there naturally." 

The men looked and had to agree.

"We'll have to guide our rhinos up there," Azula said, already dismounting, "The path will be easy to find."

The going was harder than she expected, and she hid her relief when the path did appear, flat and broad enough that they could mount the rhinos again. The Earthbenders had stopped trying to hide their tracks in the dry dust, and she ordered everyone to pick up the pace. 

As they rode, Azula's eye was caught by a shadow overhead.

The komodo rhino grumbled in protest as Azula hauled back hard on the reins, staring up at the Avatar's air bison.

She could have screamed. He was so close.

She dug her nails into her palms, hard, then let go with a sigh. She felt sick, letting an opportunity, any opportunity, pass by after so long, but after the humiliating prison break, letting the Fire Lord's brother be taken captive could easily destroy the tentative foothold the nation had fought so hard for. And she had heard what Earthbenders did to Fire Nation prisoners. 

  
Digging her heels into the rhino's sides perhaps a little harder than was strictly necessary, she continued on the trail, signalling for her men to follow. 


	8. Chapter 8

"What is he doing?" Azula hissed, standing at the bow of her ship. The Avatar wasn't even trying to conceal his movements, flying due west. The villagers had--after some persuasive measures--told her which direction he had taken, and that it was something to do with spirits, but didn't seem to know what goal the Avatar had in mind.

  
"Princess Azula," General Iroh said gently, "I think we should wait to follow the Avatar until we have a clearer idea of what he is planning."

  
"As far as I'm concerned, you forced me into this," Azula snapped without turning, "If we hadn't wasted nearly a full day because you wanted to take a bath, he would be in my brig right now." 

  
"Princess," Iroh said again, worry creeping into his tone, "We are headed directly for Fire Nation waters. If you are captured breaking your banishment-"

  
"Do you think I don't know?" Azula yelled, whirling on him. "But what choice do I have? If I'd been able to follow him to the village I'd be returning home in triumph!"

  
Iroh's face remained impassive. "The risk is too great. We have to pull back and reassess the situation."

"We _have_ to catch the Avatar," Azula snarled, shoving past her uncle. "Is the catapult ready?"

The men stood back from the oil-soaked missile, reeking from weeks of galley waste, to let Azula ignite it. Taking just a heartbeat to calm and focus her mind, Azula shot a blue fireball into its heart and stepped back herself, giving the order. The first shot missed, but barely, and she ordered the next missile to be loaded, her jaw clenched. If she could bring down the Avatar before they made it into Fire Nation waters, there would be nothing to explain. 

Looking ahead, she felt her heart sink into the pit of her stomach.

A blockade. 

"Princess Azula, there is still time to turn around. As long as you are not technically in Fire Nation waters-"

"Shut up," Azula whispered, and then raised her voice. "Helmsman, hold your course!" 

She could feel her men exchanging glances, but none of them spoke against her. General Iroh began to speak again, but subsided when Azula turned the full force of her glare on him. "Hold your course," she gritted again, more to herself than to the crew.

In the distance, she could see the unmistakable silhouettes of catapults being readied.

The first volley landed short. Azula could see that they were aiming for the Avatar, not for her ship--if they brought him down, her only hope would to be to get to him in the water before they did. "Faster!" she ordered, her voice shrill in her ears. 

The second volley was worse. The ship barely missed the bulk of missiles, but one hit--Azula could feel the ship shudder like an injured animal.

"Princess Azula, the engines are damaged! We have to stop for repairs!"

"Don't you dare!" Azula roared, "We are not stopping!" She turned to watch the blockade, the Avatar's bison swerving and diving in the air to avoid the fireballs--but still flying west. 

There was a third volley, and then the Avatar was past the blockade.

Azula narrowed her eyes. 

"Increase speed," she ordered, and shrugged off her uncle's hand.

"Princess, we're on a collision course!" the helmsman called down, alarm clear in his voice.

"We can make it!" Azula shouted back, striding to the bow of the ship, "I said more speed!" 

She watched the ships of the blockade closing the gap. "We can make it," she said to herself again, "we can make it." They had to.

At the last minute, the Fire Nation ships cut their engines and stopped, drifting on the waves. Standing on the bow, Azula looked up to the decks--and saw Commander Zhao, smiling down at her, smug and self-assured. 

Then they were through the blockade, in Fire Nation waters, and Azula had broken her banishment. 


	9. Chapter 9

### Chapter Text

General Iroh was all but wringing his hands as he fussed over Azula making the final checks of the small life boat. "Please, Princess, if you would take just one of the men-"

"I told you, I need to move quickly," Azula snapped, glancing up at the column of smoke from the damaged engines. "You just focus on leading Zhao as far North as possible."

"But, Princess Azula, if somebody were to catch you, if you were to be seen breaking your banishment? I do not have the influence I once did, I do not think-"

"I can take care of myself," Azula interrupted him again, swinging the boat out over the water and leaping into it with one smooth motion. "Once I have the Avatar captured it won't matter that I broke anything. Your job is to make sure Zhao can't stop me before that."

Iroh didn't continue his protests, but there was a deep unhappiness in his eyes as Azula signaled for the lifeboat to be released. Some things you had to do yourself.


	10. Chapter 10

Azula was good with boats, and made good time, splashing into the shallows not ten minutes after the Avatar's bison had landed. She felt her heart racing, her stomach sick, and forced herself to stop for a moment.

The Avatar was in the temple. She wasn't breaking the terms of her banishment, not really, as long as she captured him. That had been the deal. That was the deal. She would capture the Avatar, and then. 

She gritted her teeth, letting the fire settle into her belly. The Avatar was hers.

She had been to the temple once before, as a child. Once had been enough, and she remembered the way to the inner sanctum perfectly, moving quickly and silently in the shadows of the massive columns. Hearing shouting, she froze for a second, then slipped towards the voices.

"How did he get in?" somebody was asking, and Azula froze again, seeing the figure of a boy crouching ahead of her in the shadows. 

"I don't know!" somebody else was shouting, and the boy was leaning forward, intent on what was going on by the doors. Azula crept closer, breathing silently, step by silent step.

"Open the doors immediately! Before he contacts Avatar Roku!" the first voice yelled, and the Avatar tensed to spring forward--then stopped at the touch of Azula's hand on his throat. 

There was no time for gloating. With her free hand, Azula snatched the staff from the Avatar and kicked it across the floor, then twisted the boy's hands behind him.

"Aang! Now's your chance!" a girl called, and Azula kneed the Avatar in the small of his back, forcing him to stumble forward into the light. 

"The Avatar is mine," Azula declared, and saw the Water Tribe boy and girl again, who stared in shock and disbelief. The Fire Sages turned on them and quickly had the upper hand, seizing one of their number as well. "Close the doors!" Azula ordered, seeing that the inner sanctum was exposed. She didn't know what the Avatar had planned, but she wasn't going to give him the chance. Without waiting to see what the Fire Sages were doing with the others, she began marching her prize down the steps. 

The Avatar hadn't tried to resist at all, but now he glanced over his shoulder, presumably to see what was happening to his companions. Then he twisted, catching Azula off-balance, wrenching out of her hand as she grabbed at him and knocking her down several steps with a blast of air. Catching herself with a painful jolt up her leg, Azula leaped up the stairs after him.

"Go!" the watertribe girl yelled, and the Avatar dodged the Fire Sage's fire blasts, leaping into the air and slipping through the doors just as they closed.

"No!" Azula screamed, and a blinding white light shot out from the sanctum, forcing her to shield her eyes. "Get it open!" she shouted, running up to the doors and taking her stance, not looking to see if the Fire Sages were with her before she took aim and let loose a steady stream of flame into the first lock.

The others joined her, with no result.

"It's sealed shut," the Great Fire Sage told her, "It must have been the light. Avatar Roku doesn't want us inside."

"I! Wasn't! Asking!" Azula screamed, punctuating each word with a blue-hot blast to the doors. Panting, she turned on the fifth Fire Sage, who was bound and on his knees. "You," she snarled, striding towards him. "Why would you help him?"

The man didn't even have the decency to look ashamed. "Because it was once the Fire Sage's duty," he said quietly, "It is still our duty."

Bending down so that her eyes were level with his, Azula exhaled a short, sharp burst of flame, forcing him to flinch. "Don't talk to me about duty," she hissed, then straightened. "We have to-" she began, but stopped when she saw that the Great Fire Sage was bowing. 

She turned.

"Two traitors in one day. I must be doing something right."

Zhao stepped out of the shadows.

Azula leaped backwards a missed heartbeat too late, and two men had seized each of her arms, pinning her wrists together behind her back. She tried to twist free and cried out in pain as they forced her to her knees. 

Zhao smiled, bending over her. "What's the matter, little girl? You were so very good with your words last time we spoke. Kitty cat got your tongue?"

Azula spat at his face. 


End file.
